Various bunny questions…

[WhiteShadows]

 Hi everyone! I am new and had a few question about my bunny.  

A little background:  I got my bunny when I was 12 ( I am now 22) so my bunny is 10 years old! He is a little black dwarf bunny.  He has never been sick (that I am aware of) or neutered.  He has never even been to the vet ( I feel bad for never taking him for check-ups or anything) Anyway, a little after I got him he started biting me ( the person we got him from said it was “love nibbles”) and I became afraid of him.  I stopped picking him up and cuddling him.  He does not let me (or rather seems nervous) when I attempt to pick him up and hold him now, so I just pet him on this forehead. When I hit my teenage years, I was too wrapped up in myself to give my bunny a lot of attention.  He rarely got let out of his cage. Now that I am in college and he is so old, I feel bad and feel like I have been a terrible bunny owner.  I am super busy but I have been trying to let him out of his cage to hop around for a few hours a day ( my house is not rabbit proof and we now have a dog that is not safe for him to be around so he stays in the laundry room) and to pet him more. His cage is dirty and I need to clean it…waiting for good weather! I want him to be happy and I do not want him to be in pain.  So that is the background…

A few health concerns I have noticed now that I am paying more attention to him lately: 

He seems to be shedding an awful lot. Before it seemed like it was seasonal, but now it seems like their is a permanent spot down his back where hair falls out.  

I try to change his litter box everyday or every other day, but sometimes it gets somewhat bad before I get around to it.  It seems his bottom is dirty but I do not know what to do about it. (He is uncomfortable with me holding him so I don’t know how to clean him)

Occasionally when I let him out and he stretches, he falls down to one side. He also seemed to be having trouble getting up one time out of his litter box (he was lying in it).  He seems fine though most of the time and hops around like normal.

I just noticed a few days ago that there is a little white, crusty patch by his right eye.  I don’t know what this is and I can’t tell if it is getting worse or not.

I think that is it…I know I must sound like a terrible bunny owner and I do feel so bad for neglecting him (and still sometimes) in the past.  I do not want him to suffer and I know that he is old ( I hope he doesn’t get sick and goes quietly in his sleep)…could some of this stuff be because of his age? I will take any advice. Thank you so much!!!

[MimzMum]

First of all, welcome to BinkyBunny.com! You’ll find lots of knowledgeable people here who love their bunnies. (I am new to having rabbits as house companions, but for the last year or so here I have found great help!)
Please don’t feel bad for what is past. It is important that you are looking for help for your bunny now. He does sound like he has a few health issues, but 10 years is very good for a bunny! I’m guessing he has some soft feces stuck to his bottom either from something he’s eaten recently that is disagreeing with his sensitive tummy, or (considering the crustiness around his eyes) he could have an infection. Or if his litter box is staying messy too long, the smell and fumes from the urine could be assaulting his tender eye and nose tissues.

I don’t think it would be a bad idea to have a vet look at him. Run some tests. If he’s never been, he’s way overdue! Do you have a rabbit savvy vet in your area?

There used to be a link  that helped you find a rabbit care experienced vet in your area. I do not have it, but I’ll search around and see if I can find it. It may actually be in the help sections on the tool bar at the top of the forum here.

EDIT: Aha! Here it is…sorry it was at allexperts.com. I gave the wrong address earlier:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

It is important he be seen by a professional to correctly assess his current health.

Rabbits definitely need quality exercise time (at least three hours a day outside of their cages) and they are pretty fastidious animals, so they need to be able to keep themselves clean and live in clean conditions. You might want to take some time to get his living area cleaned up for him.
Also a bunny needs fresh hay at all times of the day and clean drinking water. Plus a few cups of good veggies (dark leaf lettuce is a good start) per day to insure all their vitamin requirements are being met. He sounds like a great rabbit and he’s been with you a long time. He could be with you for a while yet, so don’t hesitate to take the time now to be with him and take care of his needs.

I am sure there are others onboard who are much more eloquent and will pick up whatever I’ve missed here. Good luck to you and please keep us posted on his progress!

[Meg]

Hi! These are great suggestions, and I’m new, so I don’t have much to add, but I can share these resources:

Here’s a good list of good bunny vets: http://rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and you might also want to get the book _Rabbit Health in the 21st Century_ for more information in addition to vet care. And as you probably have heard, the _House Rabbit Handbook_ has lots of good beginner info. There’s more on that and bunny care at rabbit.org.

Best of luck with your bunny!

[Beka27]

I am not passing judgement on your situation, but IN GENERAL, this is the reason why we don’t recommend rabbits as pets for children.  When parents don’t take the ultimate responsibility to care for the rabbit, things can get overlooked and it’s ridiculous to expect a child to have the skills necessary to do what is required.  It’s quite impressive that he has lived this long, so you must have been doing something right. 

You cannot change your past mistakes, but you can improve his current life by making him a priority now.  I find that it helps me to have a concrete schedule when it comes to bunny care.  At a certain time or on a specific day, you do THIS, THAT, and THE OTHER.  Every day, without fail.  Write it down, set an alarm, send yourself an email, whatever it takes to be sure that his needs get met daily.  That is what parents have to do… they put their kids’ needs ahead of their own.

Are you able to take him to a vet for a check-up so they can look at his ears, eyes, teeth, etc…?  If his bottom is dirty consistently, he may have an infection, parasites or another medical issue that will require vet attention.  If he is sick and you’re not able to provide treatment, or if the vet determines he has very little time left, the humane thing would be to have him euthanised.

 

[jerseygirl]

Wow, you have been lucky he hasn’t needed vet care before now. I think it is time for him to be seen though. Elderly rabbits will have more problems generally. With the white scaly patch and hair loss on the back, it sounds like he may have mites. As to his balance etc, best the vet check that out. They can give him a sanitary shave too around his bottom if it would help. Exercise and company are what you can give him now. Try using a pen and sit in there with him. Or use the pen walls to block of areas in a room and let him exercise in the whole space – obviously without the dog being there.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for kids to get a rabbit then lose interest as they grow up. Just how kids, teens are. So, as Beka said, it really is up to the parents to decide if it is the best pet for their child – or be prepared to care for it if their child ‘grows out of it’. As already said, the important thing is you can choose to be a good bunny owner now.  Good on you for being honest and coming here to look for ways to make things better for him.  What his name, by the way?

[3crazybuns]

Please just let the past be the past, and do what you have to, to make sure he gets the best senior care now! First and foremost I would take him to a rabbit savvy vet, especially since you have noted crusty eye, and “poopy butt”

Secondly, please, please if you feel you can’t properly care for him, find someone who has GREAT rabbit experience and let them take care of him, I’m usually the last person to tell people to find their pet a home, but I’m also I firm believer that if you can’t care for a pet properly, its best the pet have someone who can, and live a happy healthy life, over having them suffer because someone wants to be selfish, and keep the pet because its “their pet” and the pet end up dying because of improper care.–On that note, considering he’s 10 years old, you must be doing something right!!!!

[skibunny8503]

As I was reading your post I couldn’t help but think about my first bunny.  I know EXACTLY how you feel!  My rabbit, Mickey, was my first pet.  I got him when I was 11 years old.  My asked my parents for a pet for years, even caught a little frog and took care of it to prove I could care for it.  So they finally let me get a pet and my dad took me down the Petland.  I ended up buying a little gray bunny.  I bought different books since there was no binky bunny and the internet wasn’t as popular (not even sure if we had internet).  But all the books I had just had the basic smaller cage and didn’t say to let them run around all the time.  I’ve learned so much this year than I had before.  I had only let Mickey out a few hours a day (sometimes every other day).  He had a wire cage, ate the junky pellets, had either aspin or pine bedding (can’t remember).  After I got on here and saw everything I didn’t know about rabbits I felt so bad.  But he actually lived a very long time!  I’m still surprised he lived so long.  We had him put down because he was falling over and seemed miserable.  It was hard but he was 12 years old!

I know people don’t always recommend pets to kids but to me if they’re around 10 or 11 and are responsible and the parents know they have to help take care of them then I think it’s ok.  My parents helped out; my dad would clean his cage, my mom would help feed him if I was in school.  He started becoming the family pet.  And when we had to put him to sleep everyone in our family was very upset.  And especially that long ago, books didn’t always recommend the best advice like they do today.

So don’t feel bad at all because 10 years old wonderful!  I wish I could help you with the crusty eyes….I know mine had it but I never did have him checked those last few months (I know I should have…).  It could probably be because of his age because mine had crusty eyes but he did have cataracts.  So if you look at his eyes and it looks like it’s clear then he might have imature cataracts; but yeah I would just take your bun to the vet and see what they say.  Good luck and let us know how it goes

[BinkyBunny]

I think everyone’s input is great. Great points of view that deal with the past issues, yet bring us up to the present and what should be done now. I double ditto getting established with a rabbit-savvy vet as it’s never to late to start doing the right things for your bunny. Good for you for doing this!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Just wanted to say Welcome and agree with Beka-you can forgive your mistakes and move on to give him a happy home now!

[skunklionshow]

I have found that doing right by my bunnies today help me reconcile my own guilt for my own childhood rabbits.  Enough said about that b/c my subconcious hasn’t completely let go of that guilt.  So do right by your little old man now.  Take him in for a check up.  I don’t think it could do much harm.  You definately have done something right for having such an old bunny man.  So get him a check up. 

B/c your rabbit hasn’t had all the “best care” practices for 10 yrs, I think that the attention that you are giving him now and the some time out of cage are pretty good overall.  I’m trying to down you or dig you for your past.  I’m just saying that if you had little exercise for several years, what might be normal to some, will be too much to the one who hasn’t exercised.  So I think you are likely meeting his and your needs.  Definately spend your time w/ him while he’s here.  We love pictures & names.

[Author]

Messages